Downhill skiing is a popular sport in which there have been a number of important developments bringing greater excitement, fun, and safety. Untethered, spring-loaded brakes, improved materials, and innovative ski designs, such as parabolic skis, have enabled all skill levels to enjoy the sport. Snowboarding has brought increased excitement to downhill skiing, but has generally been limited to those with greater athletic ability and flexibility. Safety can be easily compromised, not only for the snowboarders, but for skiers in the area endangered by out-of-control snowboarders. Over many decades, a wide variety of devices have been suggested to “improve” the skiing experience or to make it safer or easier for those without athletic ability or acquired skills. Many of these devices have taken the form of a scooter, for example, in Shores U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,847, where a mono-ski is fitted with a handlebar carried on a post connected to a single ski wherein the skier places his feet aligned one in back of the other. The post can be vertically tilted by a control on the handlebar. “Brakes” are spring loaded to maintain the post in a chosen rotational position and can be released to change the rotational position by means of a cable connected a lever pivotally attached to the handlebar. Little U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,548 discloses a device having a handlebar carried on a bendable mechanism connected to a single ski. Brumbt U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 257,336 provides a handlebar rigidly secured at an angle to a board which itself is supported on a pair of runners. Moerling U.S. Pat. No. 2,292,891 provides a snow scooter having a platform placed on top of the rear of a relatively narrow single runner. A brake is arranged at the forward end of the platform to extend into the snow against the force of a biasing spring. Monreal U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,584 secures upright post-handles to each of two otherwise standard and independent skis. Benson U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,313 discloses what appears to be a water ski board provided with vertically tiltable posts carrying a handlebar.
Many previously proposed devices use handlebars on a post to enable the user to steer without the need for body movement. Wingard U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,031 attaches a rudder through the forward part of a snowboard, connected to an upright handle and grip, to steer and/or brake the board. Myers U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,126 provides a handlebar secured by means of a tiltable post to a snow runner; see also, Spiers U.S. Pat. No. D451,162. Steering blades extend into the snow on respective sides of the runner operated by respective boot pads. A brake located toward the rear of the runner can be pushed vertically straight into the snow against the force of a biasing spring. Brown U.S. Pat. No. 2,593,974 provides a forward steering and braking blade mounted between the front ends of two skis and controlled by a handlebar connected to the blade by a post. Additional braking is provided by U-shaped flanges connected to the rear of shoe pads and which can be tilted into engagement with the snow on respective outer sides of the skis.
Other devices bifurcate the runner into a forward steering part and a rear platform on which the user stands. Upright posts with handlebars or gripping surfaces are provided to enable the user to steer the device. Examples can be found in Burger U.S. Pat. No. D460,137, Lanner U.S. Pat. No. D384,912, Blomstrand U.S. Pat. No. 1,723,966, Kupka U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,552, Evequoz U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,353, Rygiel U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,659, Ohlhaver U.S. Pat. No. 2,513,199, Petoud U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,975, Hylan U.S. Pat. No. 2,256,203, and Wetzel U.S. Pat. No. 1,945,170. Some combine runner bifurcation with brakes, such as Van Daam U.S. Pat. No. 1,524,850 which has a downwardly tiltable brake separating forward and rear runners, and Anderson et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,101,229, which has a downwardly tiltable brake on one side of a rearward portion of the rear runner. The most recent implementation can be found in McClure et al U.S. Pat. No. D467,199 and in McClure et al U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0067127.
As can be seen from the above listed references, some ski scooters are formed with a single runner, others with two or more runners, some of the latter using a front runner to steer and a back runner to stand on, while others use parallel runners. The above patents divide themselves into still other categories. Some of them are meant to support only one foot, while the other foot is used to propel the device, much in the manner of a simple land scooter, such as described in the above U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,524,850, 1,723,966, 1,945,170, 2,101,229, and 4,160,552. Others provide boot grips to place the feet placed one after the other as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,529,847, and 4,773,659. Still others provide separate but parallel runners, each with a boot grip to place the feet side by side on the separate runners as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,593,974, 4,708,353, and 4,744,584, or provide parallel, side-by-side, non-offset, non-slip surfaces as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,126. The remaining references do not provide any means for locating the feet at particular positions.
None of the foregoing devices and proposed designs are believed to provide the user with a full skiing experience. With both skis and snowboards, a great part of the enjoyment comes from the movement or tilting of one's body to control direction and speed, providing so called “body English”, yet the purpose of many of the above-described devices is, essentially, to remove or compromise the need for such body English. Other devices attempt to provide safety by braking mechanisms that are awkward to use or which require unnecessary coordination to operate satisfactorily. A need exists for a device that will allow a user to experience the exhilaration and enjoyment of snowboarding without loss of control, without the need for great athleticism, yet retaining the feel that comes from the use of body English to turn and to check speed, while enabling the user to quickly stop in a safe, easy manner.